Present practice in the building industry is to utilize large panels for both wall and ceiling construction. Panels are normally fabricated of laminations including plaster or plywood laminations. A typical panel is sheetrock. The normal size of a panel is four feet by eight feet. A panel of such size is quite difficult for one person to manage without assistance, especially when fastening the panel to ceiling supporting structure.
Systems such as deadmen and the like are used for assisting in fastening panels to supporting structure. These systems are particularly useful in situations where position, size, lack of manpower, or the like, make alignment and support of the panel difficult.
One apparatus for assisting in the fastening of ceiling panel is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,047,165 issued Jul. 31, 1962 to Jack B. Hutchinson. This patent relates to a ceiling board jack consisting of an adjustable, collapsible three-legged frame for holding the panel flush to the ceiling while being fastened. Main drawbacks of this jack include that it is complex in construction (therefore expensive to build) and difficult to change positions for each panel. Also, the jack is not useful for fastening panels on wall supporting structure.
Another apparatus for assisting in the fastening of panels is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,309 issued Jul. 6, 1993 to James R. Bodell. This patent relates to a cleat for supporting the panel during alignment and fastening. Although this cleat apparatus may be less cumbersome and more functional than previous systems, it has a three-piece construction, such that it is expensive to manufacture. The cleat apparatus also suffers from two further deficiencies. First, the cleat has a narrow structure such that if a single cleat were used, any torque on the panel would damage or break the panel. Secondly, the cleat lacks a means for easy removal after being fastened to the supporting structure.
Unfortunately, most prior art deadmen are generally unwieldy, hard to use, and expensive. Thus, there is a need for a cost-effective apparatus to assist the fastening of panels to a supporting structure in a simple and efficient manner which would require as little as one person to fasten the panels to the supporting structure.